this morning on "early today," state department under fire. members of congress want answers over benghazi as vivid descriptions of the heavily armed assault are revealed. buckeye battleground. 18 electoral votes explains why mitt romney is spending this week in ohio. and late-breaking details on aakistani blogger shot while getting on to her school bus. she was operated on early this getting on to her school bus. she was operated on early this morning. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. on the campaign front, it is all about ohio.

voters in that key state have been getting plenty of time with president obama and his republican rival mitt romney. both candidates campaigned hard in the buckeye state tuesday. in fact, romney is spending four out of five days there this week. the reason, a new cnn orc poll shows it is a close rate for ohio's 18 electoral votes with 51% of likely voters backing president obama, 47% for romney. that, of course, made closer after last week's debate. meanwhile, ohio's election chief, a republican, has asked the supreme court to reinstate a new law that cuts off the final three days of early voting. an appeals court blocks the law pushed through by state republicans. as romney continues to campaign in ohio, president obama is back in the white house this morning. nbc's tracie pots joins us now with all the latest from washington, tracie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. good morning, everyone. the president is closing the gap in a number of these battleground states and it

continues to say the $5 trillion tax cut romney's proposing would add to the deficit and romney insists it is absolutely not true. >> if he says it's not true, then it's not true. okay. >> reporter: in battleground ohio, president obama insists mitt romney's tax cuts will add $5 trillion to the tax cuts. >> if it's true it's not going to add to the deficit, that leaves only one option. that's asking middle class families to foot the bill. >> the president's charge of a $5 trillion tax cut is obviously inaccurate and wrong. >> reporter: romney also in ohio mocked the obama campaign's latest add to cut funding for pbs. >> big bird. big bird. he's focused on saving big bird. it's kind of a strange thing in my view because i'm focused on helping the american people get good jobs. >> reporter: sesame street asked the president to pull the big

bird ad. >> twice in the six month lead up you had bombings at our compound there in benghazi and it's 9/11 in libya. what other warnings do you need? >> reporter: warnings for president obama romney's closing the gap. the latest poll, reuters has them tied, gallup has him up by 2 and q has them up by 4. >> reporter: we were talking about polls in the battleground state. it also looks like according to other polls that pennsylvania and michigan may no longer be safe bets for the president. lynn? >> tracie pots for us in washington. tracie, thank you. a 70-year-old man has become the first person in florida to die from the meningitis outbreak. that brings the death toll to 12. now two lawmakers say they'll write legislation giving the fda more power over specialty pharmacies like the one believed to be at the center of the outbreak. we have an update this

morning on that 14-year-old pakistani girl shot in the head by the taliban for blogging. the senior neurosurgeon tells nbc news the girl was operated on today but remains in critical condition. however, he is optimistic about her recovery. she was air lifted to a military hospital after being attacked while on a school bus in the swat valley. in washington the state department joined in the outrage. >> directing violence at children is barbaric, it's cowardly and our hearts go out to her and the others who were wounded as well as their families. now to al qaeda in iraq. the terrorist group is rebuilding after last year. al qaeda has stepped up training camps in the western dessert and has increased the full of attacks in iraq in the last few months. most of the militant fighters are thought to be former prisoners who were either released by iraqi officials or

escaped from jail and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. we're going to begin with an incredibly scary attack in a pittsburgh alley. a popular teacher was punched in the face when he passed by a group of teens. police say they don't believe the 50-year-old was attacked by one of his students. no a refs has been made, unreal. a bizarre incident inside a florida charter school. parents rushed in to check on their children after a 13-year-old jabbed 20 students with a gluk could he meter. it caused wounds to the victims' arms and neck. a maryland tv crew captured a case of bullying on camera. the teen was being interviewed about bullies when he was attacked and then chased off by three students that bullied him in the past. school officials are now investigating. a massachusetts junkyard owner proved one man's trash is another one's treasure. he found $114,000 worth of

savings bonds inside a chest he hauled to his junkyard. buy a lotto ticket. the bonds were returned by the owner who were shocked to learn what was inside her mother's old chest. i bet she was. finally in florida, it was a game of catch me if you can. city workers had a hard time wrangling a flock of swans. each year the birds are rounded up for medical exams and they're checked out and vaccinated before being returned into the lake. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. giving the sad face. >> i think the swans are more at risk from those guys than they are from the elements. >> apparently swans can be a little vicious. >> yes. >> they can attack. a few people on our staff have said they have been attacked. i've never heard of this before. >> an unusual way of helping the swans, that's all i'm saying. good morning, everyone. not much rain out there. the state of michigan is the exception. we had a cold front slicing through chicago last night and this is where some of the light

rain has fallen. the weather map, there's not a lot of action on it. the big storm is north of the great lakes. we'll swing the cold front on through. the eastern seaboard is a little better. there's a little bit of drizzle around new york city and new jersey. the bulk of the rain be is around michigan. the cold front is swinging through indiana, southern illinois and trying to push through the state of michigan. eventually that will head all the way to the east coast by later on tonight and tomorrow morning. as far as rain, use the umbrella in detroit. rain will start shortly and through toledo. sag gi that you, mid land, all of those areas not expecting a lot of rain. still very cold morning. wind chills are in the 20s from sioux falls, minneapolis. in the northern plains it feels like a winter day. the great lakes, the cold air is what will swing through. chicago, 34 wind chill. the forecast for today, dry in so many areas of the country, but we are going to see the cold air in place. that's a look at your national

forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. well, i mentioned the rain in michigan. besides that, it's a very dry day around the country. should be beautiful throughout much of georgia. atlanta is looking nearly perfect. very nice in texas where dallas is 75 and partly cloudy. so change in temperatures but not a lot of wet weather in the days ahead. >> good news there. bill, thanks so much. well, over 7 million cars recalled. is yours one of them? yak welch out at fortune and starbucks rivals star barks. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. a new celebrity sex tape emerges and this one has a very strange twist. you're watching "early today."

i'm lynn berry. right now a strange story involving a boston man arrested

at l.a.x. during a stop on a flight home from japan. ice agents say he was wearing a bullet proof dress, and carrying a smoke bomb in his luggage. that's not all. this is some of what else they allegedly found in his bag gak. believe it or not, agents do not think he is a terrorist. an investigation continues. this morning the government will issue a warning that thousands of airbags replaced over the last three years could be dangerous count err fits. you will be able to learn in your model is at risk. just go to safer cars.gov. newly released images show what police hope will be a better view of a 10-year-old colorado girl missing since friday. jessica ridgeway was last seen walking to school with her classmates. her backpack was found six miles from home. if you are depressed, you're not alone. the world health organization says 350 million people suffer from depression worldwide.

jerry sandusky's ramblings were ignored as he was sent to prison for the rest of his life. and this blew up on tuesday, an ongoing problem sings the end of the cold war. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed 13,473 after dropping 110 poinltsz. s&p dropped 14, nasdaq sank 47. overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei plunged 173 points while in hong kong the hang seng lost 17. so how will investors react to the unofficial start of earnings season? after the bell alcoa lowered its 25012 outlook for aluminum demand but reported slightly better than expected earnings and revenue. also young brands, the kfc, pizza hut and taco bell parent said it saw strong quarterly sales in china. the international monetary

fund said global risks have risen in the last six months. on tuesday protests got heated in greece as german chancellor angela merkel pledged her support for strict austerity measures there. this morning toyota is recalling $7.5 million vehicles worldwide to replace defects in windows. nearly 2.5 million in the u.s. the u.s. is suing wells fargo for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for what it claims is more than a decade's worth of mortgage fraud. well, jack welch. the former head of general electric, a partial partner to this network, will no longer contribute to reuters. the tweet suggested the white house manipulated jobs numbers for political gain. a doggy day care outside of chicago has stepped in it so to speak with the nation's biggest coffee chain.

starbucks is asking star barks to change its name and logo to avoid any customer confusion. a new study out of denmark finds that the more expensive running shoes do not prevent injuries or make you run faster. and it's that time of year again. the nieman marcus 2012 christmas catalog is out and it is complete with all the outlandish gifts like his and her diamond studded watches for a cool $1.1 million. bill, that's our christmas gift to each other. coming up, san francisco stays alive, a bountygate update and the space jump will have to wait. plus, the athletics steal game three from the tigers. your sports headlines are straight ahead. i thought my gift to lynn was a nice, beautiful dry day today. that wouldn't last too long. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. in sports, san francisco and oakland win to force a game four in both series. it was an exciting one. we'll begin in cincinnati though. with two outs and two on in the top of the tenth, the giants joaquin arias hit the grounder to third. he bobls the ball giving arias enough time to score for a 2-1 giants victory.

to oakland where the athletics get a hit and rbi single in the first inning and seth smith belted a home run to right center giving oakland a 2-1 victory over the tigers. aside from the two big hits the a's relied on their pitching and defense. oakland outfield jericho could he crisp makes a leaping grab to rob a would be home run by prince field jeer. to football now, nfl commissioner roger goodell reduced the bountygate punishment. scott fujita's three game suspension has been lowered to one. anthony hare grove's eight game penalty has been trimmed to seven. u.s. soccer said that landon donovan will not pay for the national team in a pair of upcoming world cup matches because of a left knee injury sustained in a game saturday. finally, remember this guy, austrian daredevil felix

baumgartner. his death defying sky dive has been postponed due to gusty winds at the launch site. we'll be sure to keep you posted. stay tuned. coming up, kim and kanye on the hunt and julian assange's strange houseguest. your entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll talk turkey about one minnesota neighborhood and its new peeping tom. you're watching "early today."

well, a good early wednesday morning to you. thanks for joining us here on "early today." cold front going through the great lakes. prepare for changing weather today, especially in the ohio valley, the great lakes. temperatures will be plunging during the day today. only a high near 50 in chicago, 52 and chilly this morning in minneapolis. you're in the 20s now. the wind chill this afternoon still cool. now the east coast looks okay today. tomorrow's much better. we will see a lot of sunshine tomorrow on the east coast. we're also watching a chance of rain though. we'll have to watch that around oklahoma and arkansas tomorrow afternoon. if you're watching us on news channel 8 in tampa, florida. see aliens, black holes and lunar landscapes as envisioned by artists around the world at the fine art center. bill, thanks so much. in entertainment news, tmz reports radio host bubba the love sponge was behind the leaking of a six-year-old sex tape involving his wife and his

best friend wrestling legend hulk hogan. he said the encounter happened after his marriage had imploded. his best friend bubba had encouraged with ben white's health klum. he said hulk's best friend is bragging that the footage was a gold mine. the wrestler tells tmz he plans to explore legal options. bill's disgust. well, things appear to be getting serious between kim kardashian and kanye west. they have been shopping around for a miami mansion in the 7 to $10 million range. no disgust on that one, huh, bill? finally, wikileaks founder bill assange who has been hold up in london has had an unlikely visitor. that's right. on tuesday lady gaga was in the neighborhood promoting her perfume. why not, she stopped in. the two reportedly had a dinner during a five-hour visit.

five hours. i work with you every single day for years. i don't think that we can have a five hour visit. no. dinner would be like 20 minutes. we're good. >> we would be bored of each other. >> we're good. we've talked about everything we need to talk about. this comes to us from kvly valley news live in fargo, north dakota, where a nearby glin done minnesota, a lone wild turkey has turned one neighborhood into its personal stomping ground. the wayward foul has made himself at home wherever he sees fit. over the past five months he's gotten a reputation for peeking through windows. fans have called him roger. he could be called dinner this coming thanksgiving. i hope not for his sake. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

4:28 is your time now. 58 degrees. another chilly start to your day. are we in for beautiful weather? we'll find out in a moment. first off, i'm eun yang. >> and i'm richard jordan in for aaron gilchrist. welcome on this wednesday, october 10th. for the first time, a national division playoff game will be held in washington. the nationals return to washington after winning the first two games in st. louis.

edwin jackson, who finished off their world series run last year, will start. in case you can't make it, you can watch the game on the mlb network. if you're planning on going to today's game, plan on getting to the ballpark early. several streets around the ballpark will be closing around 7:00. additional streets will close at 10:30. ddot officers will have extra officers on hand to keep things running smoothly, and trains will be running hours before the first pitch. >> it's going to be a great event. it's fantastic for the city to be hosting it, but everybody, i think, needs to have a game plan whether they're going to the game or not. they need to know how to get home tomorrow, and if there's any way to avoid this area, that's what we recommend. >> you can also get to the game on a bike. capital bike share will have plenty of spaces available at national park. the nats also offer a free bike valet at the stadium. the nats may be hosting their first playo